Helena weekly herald., 1887-01-06

degraded race-and for a moment he felt al
most an accredited agent of progress and CIV
lization. We never really understand the
meaning of enlightenment until we begin to
use it aggressively.
A few PAGES further ON four figures ap-
peared in the now gathering darkness of the
trail. The stranger quickly recognized the
| beaming smile of Concho, foremost of the
party. A quick glance at the faces of the
others satisfied him that while they lacked
| Concho's good humor, they certainly did not
surpass him in intellect. Pedro was a stout
vaquero Manuel was a slim half-breed and
ex-convert of the Mission of San Carmel and
| Miguel a recent butcher of Monterey.
| Under the benign influences of Concho that
suspicion with which the ignorant regard
strangers died away, and the whole party es-
corted the stranger-who had given his name
as Mr.. Joseph Wiles-to their camp fire. So
anxious were they to begin their experiments
that even the instincts of hospitality were
forgotten, and it was not until Mr. Wiles-
now known as .''Don Jose'-sharply reminded
them that he wanted some "grub," that they
came to their senses When the frugal meal
of tortillas, frijoles, salt pork, and chocolate
was over an oven was built of the dark red
rock brought from the ledge before them, and
an earthenware jar, glazed by somo peculiar
local process, tightly fitted over it, and packed
with clay and sods. A fire was speedily built
of pine boughs continually brought from
wooded ravine below, and in a few
moments the furnace was in full blast.
Mr.. Wiles did not participate in these
active preparations, except to give oc-
casional directions between his teeth, which
were contemplatively fixed over clay pipe
as he lay comfortably on his back on the
ground. Whatever enjoyment the rascal
may have had in their useless labors he did
not show it, but it was observed that his left
eye often followed the broad figure of the ex-
vaquero, Pedro, and often dwelt on that wor-
thy's beetling brows and half savage face.
Meeting that baleful glance once, Pedro
growled out an oath, but could not resist
hideous fascination that caused him again
and again TO seek it,
The scene was weird enough without Wiles'
eye to add to its wild picturesqueness. The
mountain lowered above-a heavy Rem
brandtish mass of black shadow-sharply cut
here and there against a sky so inconceivably
remote that the world-sick soul must have
despared Of ever reaching SO far or of climb
ing its steel-blue walls The stars were large,
keen and brilliant, but cold and steadfast.
They did not dance nor twinkle in their ada
mantine setting. The furnace fire painted
the faces of the men an Indian red, glanced
on brightly colored blanket and serape, but
was eventually caught and absorbed in the
waiting shadows of the black mountain,
scarcely twenty feet from the furnace door,
The low, half-sung, half-whispered foreign
speech of the group, the roaring OF the fur
mace and the quick, sharp yelp of the coyote
on the plain below were the only sounds that
broke the awful silence of the hills.
1t was almost dawn when it was announced
that the ore had fused. And it was high
time, for the pot was slowly sinking into the
fast crumbling oven. Concho uttered jubi-
liant Sod and Liberty" but Don Jose Wiles
bade him he silent and bring stakes to sup
port the pot Then Don Jose bent over the
seething mass. 1t was for a moment only.
But in that moment this accomplished met
tallurgist, Mr.. Joseph Wiles, had quietly
dropped a silver half dollar into the pot!
Then he charged them to keep up the fires
and went to sleep-all but one eye.
Dawn came with dull beacon fires on the
near hill tops, and far in the east, roses over
the Sierran snow Birds twittering in the
alder fringes mile below, and the creaking
of wagon wheels-the wagon itself mere
cloud of dust in the distant road-were heard
distinctly. Then the melting pot was sol
emnly broken by Don Jose, and the glowing
incandescent mass turned into the road to
cool
And then the metallurgist clipped a small
fragment from the mass and pounded it, and
Clipped another smaller piece and pounded
that. and then subjected it to acid, and then
treated it to a salt bath which became at
once milky-and at last produced white
something -mrabile dictu!-two cents worth
of alverl
Concho shouted with joy; the rest gazed at
each other doubtingly and distrustfully; COM
panions in poverty, they began to diverge
and suspecte each other in prosperity. Wiles'
left eye glanced ironically from the one to
the other. ~
"Here is the 500, Don Jose" said Pedro,
handing the gold to Wiles with decidedly
brusque intimation that the services and
presence of stranger were no longer re-
quired.
Wiles took the money with gracious
smile and a wink that sent Pedro's heart into
his boots, and was turning away when cry
from Manuel stopped him:
"The pot-the pot-it has leaked, look! be-
hold! see!"
He had been cleaning away the crumbled
fragments of the furnace TO get ready for
breakfast, and had disclosed shining pool of
quicksilver!
Wiles started, cast rapid glance around
the group, saw in flash that the metal was
unknown to them, and then said, quietly:
at is not silver"
@Pardon, senior, it is, and still molten"
Wiles stopped and ran his fingers through
the shining metal.
"Mother of God-what is it, then?-magic?"
"No, only base metal" But here, Concho,
emboldened by Wiles' experiment, attempted
to seize handful of the glistening mass that
instantly broke through his fingers in thou
sand tiny spherules, and even sent few
globules up his shirt sleeves, until he danced
around in mingled fear and childish pleasure
.And it is not worth the taking" quer1ed
Pedro of Wiles.
Wiles' right eye and bland face were
turned toward the speaker, but his malevo-
lent left was glancing at the dull, redbrown
T. I,